Mamie Lois Riley

RILEY, Mamie Lois McDonald was born on January 10, 1926 on the family farm, close to West Point, Tennessee to Neal and Lizzie McDonald. She was the youngest of their 12 children. She grew up on the farm, and attended grade school in West Point. She went to high school in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, where she played basketball and received All-State honors. After graduation, she went to Detroit, Michigan to live with one of her sisters, and to work in the Ford plant in Willow Run, Michigan building B-24 bombers during WWII. After the war ended, she met Delbert Riley, Jr., and the two of them were married on October 28, 1946. The couple moved several times, but finally settled in Hamilton, Ohio in 1953. They rented at first, but then purchased their home in Lindenwald. Lois initially dedicated herself to being a full-time mother of their two sons, but returned to the work force, eventually working for the City of Hamilton in the Finance Department, where she worked till she retired in 1986. She passed at Hospice of Hamilton on Saturday, June 9. Her husband preceded her in death on May 6, 1999. She is survived by her two sons, Rick (D. Jean) Riley of Fairfield, Ohio and Don Riley of Tijuana, Mexico; her grandson, Mike (Taimi) Riley of Redondo Beach, California; her great grandson, Connor Riley of Redondo Beach, California; her sister, Pearl Wahl and an assortment of friends and extended family.